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An Appeal for Reason: Letter to the Editor

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To the community,

Now that it’s November…

One last (long) political rant for this election season. Forgive me.

I am shocked by the drama, the travesty, of almost every aspect of this election season. It has taken the radical undercurrents that have always run in any election, from dogcatcher on up, and made them the main points. It is an election best exemplified by ALL CAPS AND EXCLAMATION POINTS!!!!!!! rather than reasoned discourse, in both private and public venues.

Democracy is messy, but it’s supposed to be at least somewhat civilized.

People tend to forget, I think, that in a presidential election we are hiring someone for a job, and a very important job. We are asking them to steer a nation of over 350 million individuals in the way that best serves each and every one of those people.

We are looking for someone who will represent a nation that is currently the greatest world power, and thoughtfully work with the leaders of other nations to solve problems as peacefully as possible.

We need to hire someone who understands the multi-faceted needs of a nation that has citizens of every economic level, creed, and color, infrastructure that needs maintaining and upgrading, territory prone to hurricane and tornado and drought and flood that has emergencies to tend to.

We need to look at this prospective employee as someone who can work together with Congress and guide them to uphold their constitutional duties to keep the ship of state sailing smoothly through domestic and international issues.

We need to give this election the same, reasoned consideration we would give hiring a contractor to build us a home. Can they do the work? Do they pay attention to detail? What is their experience? Will they choose quality subcontractors to do the plumbing, the electrical, the sheetrock? Do they know the building code? On and on…

We need to remember this is an amazing country. An experiment in democracy, the infinitely messy method of government that is truly representative of its citizens. A country that in 240 years became a beacon of strength and freedom and prosperity to the world. A nation that is both great and imperfect, reflecting its democracy and citizenry pretty dead on: none of us is perfect.

And we need to remember that, no matter how many like-minded people we surround ourselves with, down the street, across town, in the next state, or on the other coast, there are just as many Americans who think completely differently than you do, and they need to be fairly governed, too.

All the candidates are human. All are flawed. Each brings a different skill set to the table. Get away from memes and soundbites and do your own research.

And quit name calling and fighting and trying to persuade others to think like you do. They don’t. And they have perfectly valid reasons for thinking differently. Insulting the candidates and each other does nothing but show our darkest, rudest, most selfish tendencies.

And witnessing that has been truly depressing.

With all that in mind, please, participate. Get out and vote. Or not. It’s your choice.

21 comments

Thanks Dottie for inserting a little reason into this election cycle. It has been a bit unsettling, indeed. One more week, then we can possibly all catch our breath…. and put some positive back into the world.

So glad when it’s all over.ive already voted,hoping our world will change.we need that.HOPE it’s really a big word.i have weighed pros and cons.sad I can’t stand either candidate sad.but in order for change we ALL NEED TO VOTE!!!!

He can still be WRITTEN IN which is exactly what I intend to do in a few when I get off here & go mark my Absentee Ballot!!!! I’m so tired of voting for the lesser of two evils & I too wanted & still do want Bernie!!! Which is exactly why I intend to “waste” my vote in protest!!!!

Veterans Friend huh? Explain to me how it is so sane to plunge the whole middle east into civil war. To pit the citizens against one another so that tens of thousands of men, women, children, and elderly perish in a hell hole of her making. She stirs shit and then bails, to let the citizens gut each other in the streets. They will continue to do so for decades, because when Hillary’s boogie men are gone, the mad men she has armed will turn on each other. The children of the veterans that you claim to be a friend of will be sent to die in Hillary’s dream world of blood and pulverized concrete. Or maybe they will die on the streets of America when she instigates a civil war here to rid us of the “Deplorables”.

Also; Anyone who would waste a vote in protest is not in the game for anyone but themselves and puts their ignorance out there for all to see.

No. I spend too much time reading non fiction, pertaining to history as written by extremely talented and experienced people, who are and have been tasked with diplomatic and military responsibilities regarding world affairs. You seem to know a lot about Fox, but you don’t know a damned thing about me y[edit]

On the subject of the media; I hope you don’t base your view of the world by what you see on TV or read in the rags or on the internet, or listening to politicians, because that just makes a person another sheep to be led to the slaughter, or cow to be milked. Thanks for worrying about me though.

“You seem to know a lot about Fox, but you don’t know a damned thing about me y[edit]”

And yet you have no problem accusing a person -a person I will assume you dont know personally- of causing deaths and wars. O.K. sure.
I base my knowledge on my 63 years of paying attention, and I too, was once young enough to scream “They’re all crooked!” I get it.
But anarchy is not the solution either. We read very different books I guess.

350 million people in this world and these two clowns are the best we could come up with? It’s sad to know noone really cares enough about you or I to run for president and actually make a difference and not just a point or a brand, embarrassing really.

Well, the ‘world’ is a bit more than the USA.
Actually, we are well over 7 billion, with 250,000 (yes, a quarter MILLION) new mouths to feed every-single-day.
At any given time the U.S. contains around 380 million people. Just sayin.

The job has become so poor quality that it attracts only the fringe crazies with rich friends. Anyone thinking they can make a difference should reference Obamacare.
You can make a mess that it takes 25 years to clean up, occasionally, but the president can’t really do that much, and the job can kill you. Who would want it? Only a megalomaniac narcissist hater, or a pioneer, I guess. Good luck Americans, your vote doesn’t mean anything anyway…

Sadly these two candidates reflect a large segment of America. Prepare for four more years of “Business as usual”. Thanks for your opinion Dottie. Remember folks, “it only goes downhill after the name calling starts”.

I beleive in Bernie’s judgement of the long haul. If he says Hillary is the best real-world shot for maintaining what we’ve got and pushing forward, I say ok. Very conscious that holding my nose about Hillary being an establishment punk, her real faults exaggerated by her opponents, will only serve to get me a Trump. Not worth the downside.
I have to live here. With actual people different from me. Ok.
Lets really push to get a Demo/progressive congress, that’s where we got stuck last time.
Thanks Dottie for a quiet, thoughtful moment in the noise.